Vice Presidential hopefuls Vance and Walz make last-minute campaign stops in downtown La Crosse

On the day before the 2024 presidential election, both major party candidates for vice president brought their campaigns to downtown La Crosse for separate rallies.

Republican J.D. Vance spoke to about 300 people at the La Crosse Center, while Democrat Tim Walz addressed a crowd about half that size at the Main, an entertainment venue on Main Street.

Vance’s rally happened the earliest, with the candidate speaking inside a Center ballroom around 9:30 a.m. The Ohio Republican told the crowd he was sad that it was his campaign stop in Wisconsin for this election, but he added “I promise, I will come back as your vice president of the United States.”

Vance reminded the audience of a famous line from Trump’s TV show ‘The Apprentice,” in calling on voters to turn down Kamala Harris for president.

“We know that Kamala Harris implemented the terrible tax policies that have led to sky-high inflation,” said the Ohio Senator. “We know that Kamala Harris went to war on American energy. My friends, it’s very simple. We are gonna say to Kamala Harris tomorrow, you are fired. We want to go back to common sense leadership, we want to go back to Donald Trump.”

Vance’s rally included remarks by Wisconsin House members Derrick Van Orden and Tom Tiffany. Representing the northern part of the state, Tiffany charged that Democrats are ready to punish Trump if he is re-elected president.

“You know what’s going to happen,” said Tiffany. “If, God forbid, Democrats get the House back, and we have President Trump, what’s the first thing they’re going to do? They are going to impeach him. We cannot allow the Democrats to do that, can we?” Trump was impeached twice as president, in 2019 and again after the January 6th Capitol uprising. Van Orden said voters can act as the Cavalry, to help save the country.

As Vance’s event was wrapping up late in the morning, Democrats were gathering three blocks away on Main Street to hear from Walz, his Democratic opponent. Accompanied by his wife Gwen, Gov. Walz spoke about the rights of women in America.

“They have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers had,” said Walz. “They are more at risk than they’ve ever been.” Walz promised that if Harris wins and Democrats control the Senate and House after the election, they will vote to restore Roe vs. Wade.”

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar spoke to the Democratic rally crowd, mentioning the latest football win by the UW-La Crosse Eagles, calling the victory against Stout a “nail-biter.”

“You know a little bit about what it’s like to win in the home stretch,” said Klobuchar, “and we are going to win this election in the home stretch.”

Both Walz and Vance promoted their running mates, Harris and Trump, and cautioned voters about what might happen if the other party gains control in Washington after the election.

Trump last appeared in La Crosse in August, during a town hall meeting at the civic center. Harris campaigned in October at the UWL Recreational Eagle Center.